Apple and chip giant Nvidia are reportedly in talks to invest in OpenAI as part of a new fundraising round that could value the ChatGPT maker at more than $100 billion.
Thrive Capital, the venture firm founded by real estate scion Joshua Kushner, is leading the latest fundraising round, which is expected to total several billion dollars, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft, a rival of Apple which already owns a 49% share of ChatGPT after investing some $13 billion since 2019, is also expected to participate, the Journal reported.
However, details on how much Apple or Microsoft will invest is yet to be learned, the report added.
Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, chip giant Nvidia is also in talks to join, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Apple and OpenAI not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Thrive Capital, Nvidia and Microsoft declined comment.
OpenAI’s high valuation is a result of the AI arms race it sparked with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, prompting companies across industries to invest billions in the technology to stay ahead of the competition and capture market share.
The Sam Altman-led firm was reportedly valued at $80 billion in February after completing a deal where the company would sell existing shares in a so-called tender offer led by Thrive Capital.
Apple has tacitly acknowledged that it needs help catching up with companies like Microsoft and Google, which have emerged as the early leaders in AI.
Both Google and Samsung have already released smartphone models touting AI features as their main attractions, while Apple has been stuck in an uncharacteristically extended sales slump.
It is rare for Apple to invest in tech startups. Instead, the company has focused on acquiring manufacturing partners in order to secure supply of components used to build its devices.
But in June, Apple said that OpenAI would be its first official partner for Apple Intelligence, the iPhone maker’s artificial intelligence platform that will be featured across company devices and operating systems. The latest models come out next month.
Apple is leaning on ChatGPT to make its often-bumbling virtual assistant Siri smarter and more helpful.
Apple Intelligence will boast an improved Siri voice assistant, text proofreading and creating custom emojis.
Siri’s optional gateway to ChatGPT will be free to all iPhone users and made available on other Apple products once the option is baked into the next generation of Apple’s operating systems.
ChatGPT subscribers are supposed to be able to easily sync their existing accounts when using the iPhone, and should get more advanced features than free users would.
With Post Wires
